edpeters wrote: About the only thing you can try is to unplug the unit for several minutes and then plug it back in to see if it will correct itself.  Are there any lights on the unit when you try to turn it on?  I would expect that Comcast will have a regular box (not a DTA) to replace your set-top box with at the local outlet.  Unfortunitly (even in the age of computers and inventory control systems) Comcast apparently has not joind the information age and can not tell you what they do or do not have at any particular outlet... Thank you. I was able to successfully restore my DCT 700 back to life, but I think the specific problem here was that the big black power supply box (what many of us call a "wall wart") had become rather hot because I had sometimes not been turning the DCT 700 off after ending a TV session.    Unlike the Comcast DTA which lacks an "on/off" feature, the DCT 700 and other cable boxes do need to be turned off occasionally because those "wall warts" can become very hot.  In all honesty, this is common sense and was a misunderstanding on my part - I've had difficulty getting the Comcast remote control to reliably turn off both my Sony Trinitron 19" bedroom television and the DCT 700, they sometimes don't quite synchronize with each other when using the "Power All" button.    I unplugged the DCT 700 from the surge protector and left it disconnected all day so that the wall wart would completely cool down.  Once I returned back from work, after a couple of attempts, I got the DCT 700 back in business - apparently it was tuned to CNBC and I heard investment personality Jim Cramer's voice during the evening's episode of "Mad Money".   Glad I won't need to take time off from work to go to the Comcast service center! ... View more

You stated, "I used to get free over-the-air channels; but now I don't".   You stated you have a paid subscription to Comcast Internet. You did not state that you have a paid subscription to any level of Comcast Cable TV - Limited Basic Service or higher.   If you were receiving some "FREE" channels via cable TV, without paying any monthly subscription fees, that was a technical oversight that Comcast has now corrected.  A technician has put a "filter" onto the settings for your account so you do not receive FREE cable TV service. Another possibility is that in your local area, Comcast has migrated to "all-digital" TV service and has then been able to encrypt what were previously the "Clear QAM" limited-basic channels.   Even with "free" over-the-air channels, Comcast is required to pay monthly per-subscriber "retransmission fees" to your local stations. Comcast provides a state-of-the-art master antenna system to provide reliable retransmission of your local TV stations. This is not a free service to the end user.   If you genuinely want FREE over-the-air channels, you will need to connect and configure an antenna. If you have a pre-2007 TV receiver, you might also need a Digital TV converter box to convert the ATSC digital OTA signals to the standard-definition NTSC format that your older TV can display.   Although you might get good reception using an indoor antenna for OTA channels, it's quite possible you may need an OUTDOOR antenna to obtain reliable signal quality on many of your local stations.   If you want any level of TV video service from Comcast, you will have to subscribe to, and PAY FOR, Limited Basic Cable sevice or a higher-tier level fo service. ... View more